Another Brick in the Wall

Well, I got suckered into doing the tourist package to the Ming Tombs and Badaling with 2 other hostelers. And I was really disappointed with the Ming Tombs part. We didn't even see the Spirit Way, which was what I was looking forward to the most. And we had to spend 45 minutes looking at a Jade Factory before our lunch could be served. And the restaurant was bloody freezing. But the Great Wall part was pretty good and brutally hard. The big strongs guys on the tour only made it to the top about 10 minutes before me, so I was pretty happy with how I held my own. But it is amazing and completely surreal, when you aren't thinking you're going to die from exhaustion. We went to a silk factory on the way back, which was pretty interesting, though only the big strong guys got suckered into buying silk quilts (they weren't together, so they're not cohabitating decorators). We were exhausted when we got back, so we ordered in and nursed our blisters.